You are a Work of Art
by peachgreentea
Summary: Based on a tumblr post (by sewingfrommagic) "AU where ur otp works at an art museum and whenever person 1 is giving a tour they find a way to walk by person 2 and say "And this work of art is (person 2's name) by (their parent's names)"
1. I - The Beginning

There was a small, though well-known and respected, museum tucked away in Paris. The curator and owner was the renowned Gabriel Agreste, known for his authentication abilities and for 'discovering' artists. His son, Adrien, was one of the staff and was putting his Art History degree (it came highly suggested by his father) to good use, most often giving entertaining and well-informed tours to the visitors. His tour groups typically were mostly women for the express purpose of staring at him more than the collected art on display. But to be fair, who can blame them? When someone looks like he was a model for the paintings and statues that reside in museums let alone the fashion industry, with beautiful golden hair and sparkling eyes the color of the hills in Ireland and wore his clothes like it was his **job** (technically it was - even in art museums the staff is not permitted to be less than fully - and professionally - clothed).

Marinette was recently hired as an assistant curator at the museum and her duties often included doing restoration demonstrations. This was how Adrien and Marinette first met.

He was giving a tour when he came upon her station and stopped practically midsentence and just stared with a dazed expression on his face. She was in profile to him but he still felt like he couldn't catch his breath. Her hair, so black that it shone blue in the light, gleamed and fell on her neck with gentle waves, braided back from her face. The fierce concentration on her face stunned him, though the thought that kept repeating in his head was _"That's adorable..."_ when he caught sight of her tongue sticking out due to her focus on cleaning the small statuette that the museum had recently acquired. He stood there, forgetting about the tour group, just trying to commit everything about her to memory.

Coughing and the clearing of throats brought him back to himself. It also caused Marinette to look up in surprise and found an unfairly handsome man staring at her with a gaggle of people standing around him. They both blushed in unison, though hers was significantly deeper than his.

He still didn't say anything though because now his gaze was trapped by her bright blue eyes, thoughts again repeating though a bit less coherent than before.

 _"Damn. So blue. This is what drowning feels like. But I feel like I could fly. Damn. (love?) Wow. Blue…."_

More clearing of throats caused Adrien to visibly shake himself and give Marinette a dazzling smile. ( _"Dammit that is NOT fair. Who is that attractive? Damn."_ ) Adrien turned back to his tour group and picked up his dropped sentence after a moment's consideration before positioning himself just to the side of Marinette's workstation, taking a deep breath to center himself so he could actually say what he intended.

"Now here is my new favorite masterpiece in the museum, entitled "Breathtaking Beauty" by currently unknown artists. I feel that the name is extremely fitting as I have literally lost my breath looking at this work of art." Marinette's brow furrowed in confusion as that was _not_ the name of the statue she was working on cleaning and repairing, her face soon shifted into a shocked "OH" expression and she turned bright red as he continued. "And in her hands, you can see a recent acquisition which is currently being cleaned so that we can ascertain the provenience and check for areas in need of restoration and see the details. The current theory is that this statuette was part…"

As he continued his speech Marinette snapped her jaw shut and continued carefully cleaning the piece while she screamed internally. _"WHAT. WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT? He didn't ACTUALLY mean that, did he? OHMYGOD WHAAAAT?!"_ As Adrien led the tour group away from Marinette he had the **audacity** to turn back to her and wink. Marinette turned an even brighter red and tried her best to roll her eyes and glare but it didn't quite go as planned.

Her best friend and roommate, Alya, upon hearing this story thought it was the greatest thing in the world, of course. The rest of the night was spent with Alya teasing and cooing things like "OOooo, Mari, he _likes_ you."

"Mari, he wants to study you like the paintings that hang on the walls in that place."

"I bet he even wants to _KISS_ you."

All of this was proclaimed over the protests of her deeply blushing friend about how they haven't even talked, let alone know each other's names. After a couple hours, Marinette gave up and went to bed leaving Alya cackling to herself on the couch.

The next day when his tour came by her demonstration area he said, "This is my favorite art piece here, "Marinette" created by the presumed-to-be lovely Dupain-Chengs. The way that the light causes her hair to shine and look like the midnight sky is near miraculous and I believe that a number of constellations have taken up permanent residence in her eyes…" By this point, Marinette is remarkably red again and mutters to herself ( _"as if"_ ) as she turns her focus back to the now cleaned statuette and inspects it for damaged and repairable areas. As the tour group moves away from her station she looks up again catching emerald green eyes, which winked at her _again_ , raising a single eyebrow and pursing her lips a little bit. This just made the blond smile even wider as he continued with his spiel.

Adrien found her again between tour groups to formally introduce himself. He avoided answering her flustered questions about how he knew her name with vague responses such as, "I have my ways," and, predictably, "Magic." She found out much, much later that Adrien, being the boss' son accessed the employee records, not necessarily with granted permission.

Adrien sought her out as much as he could and they began to talk and get to know each other quite a bit. He still constantly complimented her and was met with blushing and stammering or some amount of snark and blushing. Adrien wasn't sure which one he preferred more but they were both ridiculously endearing and attractive, and that first whispered thought ( _love?_ ) started growing louder in the back of his mind, causing the occasional slight blush or stutter in the blond. Over the days that became weeks that developed into months, they did have serious discussions (in addition to all of Adrien's flirting) about families – his vanished mother and distant father, her close, if a bit invasive, baker parents – the future, art, books, and numerous other things. Most of their interactions were within the museum though Adrien did manage to coerce Marinette from the building and her work for an occasional lunch. Those meals often had both suppressing thoughts of how it could be a date. Alya shipped it so hard and Mari would roll her eyes even if secretly she wanted it to be real as well.

The tours always included a stop wherever Mari was working so that Adrien could publicly comment on her beauty and how she was his absolute _favorite_ thing in the museum. The titles he gave her were sometimes just a variation of her name (there was even one time after a particular conversation he entitled her "Mari Me?" much to her absolute embarrassment. He even had a placard with him that time…) while other times it was relating to his perception of her beauty or comparing her to a goddess. The rest of the staff thought that it was ador(k)able and at least one person would attempt to be in the vicinity when Adrien was giving a tour and Marinette was working so that they could report back to the rest.

Even Gabriel quietly approved. So quietly that no one knew, of course, he had a reputation to uphold – thank you very much – but he would privately smirk when he would hear about his son's wooing attempts. He knew that Adrien was serious even if Marinette and some of the staff did not, partly because it was similar to the stories of how Gabriel had courted his wife which were his son's favorite bedtime stories when he was little.

As the months went on and they got closer and Adrien continued with his tour routine, multiple times a day at this point, Mari decided that Adrien wasn't the only one who could give compliments and so she started plotting. It was time for him to have a taste of his own medicine.

She started making a list, with the help of Alya, of all the things she could say to him when he came by on a tour and picked her favorite and a couple backups (just in case).

And so she waited. She waited through various tours for just the right one. It had to be the right size, have the right dynamic, and he had to say the right thing - it was a Goldilocks waiting game.

And then finally it happened. Five months from that first day and two weeks after she made her resolve to return the favor.

"Here we have my favorite piece of art in the entire museum, the beautiful "Goddess of Beauty" created by Tom and Sabine Dupain-Cheng. A very talented couple don't you agree? The attention to detail is phenomenal - the adorable dusting of freckles and how the eyes seem to hold the oceans but also the sky and all the stars."

Marinette spoke up then, a pink flush dusting her cheeks and a smirk playing about her lips. "And here, painstakingly crafted by Gabriel and Céleste Agreste, is the piece "Adonis à la Adrien" I personally really love the emeralds that were used for his eyes. Unfortunately for us, they did not follow the ancient traditions so we cannot fully appreciate his muscular physique," Mari finished with mirth infusing her voice and her eyes sparkling.

Adrien did not think he had ever been this red before.


	2. An Aside

_I felt like this was important but it wasn't really fitting in the second chapter. There are some allusions to stuff that happens in chapter 2 but nothing is really given away. But basically Nino & Alya are being utilized by both parties and they find the whole thing hilarious. And a number of people in Paris are really invested in Adrinette._

* * *

A lot of the information Alya received was channeled onto the blog she had created, The Art of Wooing (aka the Great Flirt War, as Mari called it), to keep interested parties up-to-date on the progress.

A blog which both Marinette and Adrien were completely unaware of – and they were going to remain so under the threat of a punishment inflicted by Alya, which absolutely _no one_ wanted.

Adrien's tours had been noticed, and not only by the co-workers but also by guests. Some visitors would return for tours with Adrien just to see what happened between the two.

When she learned of the interest Alya decided that this was a wonderful method of documenting her two friends' romance and a way to embarrass them in the future. There was a decent following which kept growing as more and more people shared it with people who would be interested _and_ would keep it a secret. Especially since Alya very early on implemented a password system to ensure that it could remain a secret.

The blog had testimonies from co-workers and visitors and snippets or references to the plots that were currently underway. But also, the reports that Alya and Nino received from both Adrien and Marinette which created a hilarious account when the reactions to an event were shown next to each other.

The blog also had a gallery of reactions of the two sides of the war that some very sneaky and talented people were able to capture. Lots of red, blushing faces, growing number of giggling and laughing pictures, and even shocked and surprised expressions when one really got the other in a spectacular fashion. Sometimes, when people in the know were present they even managed to get video of a Flirt Battle.

She had her limits on what she would post, though – none of the recordings of Adrien were on the blog. They were alluded to, however, in that he was a dork who practiced his pick-up lines when he thought no one was listening.

...

...

Gabriel regularly got alerts on his phone from a particular blog.

* * *

 _Mari's parents also follow the blog, but they also hear about it from Mari. And Alya. There is a lot of laughter at the antics of the two dorky lovebirds._

 _So chapter 2 is coming... it is already over 1100 words and I am only like half done (? idk there is a lot that is still gonna happen) it has gotten a little out of hand..._

 _let me know what you think!_


	3. II - The Escalation

_...I am not entirely sure what happened. But there was a reason this took a while to write, other than making sure it went in the way I wanted it to and everything. It got a little out of hand. But hopefully, it will explain some of the stuff in the in-between post._

 _SO have this 2,512 word Mountain of Fluff and Flirting_

 _Also, shout out to LovelyLola on - I kinda stole your idea about Adrien practicing on Plagg. THANK YOU IT WAS A FANTASTIC IDEA_

* * *

Honestly, Marinette should not have been as surprised as she was. Of course, Alya would know Adrien's best friend. Alya literally knew _everyone_ – in part due to her career as a journalist but also because she was, well, _Alya_. She did feel that after nearly six months of flirting that she and a certain Nino Lahiffe should have met quite a while ago. Even if for no other reason than his best friend had been flirting with her for _months_ and she had so many questions. Thus, she reserved the right to pout a little bit that nobody had introduced them. Putting all that aside, Nino and Marinette clicked pretty easily and became fast friends. Nino, being the wonderful type of friend that he is, was more than willing to help in whatever way he could in teasing Adrien back. Of course, he didn't mention that he and Alya would also help Adrien with Mari as well; they valued their lives too much for that. _  
_

He provided lots of information about Adrien – just the sorts of things that would trip him up or cause him to turn red. Nino also talked about Adrien's cat Plagg, who has a weird love of cheese, and how Adrien talks to the cat and uses him as a sounding board. He didn't think Nino heard him testing lines on the cat. He has recordings.

Recordings which he happily sent to Mari and Alya, though Mari was carefully only sent recordings of lines she had already heard. Alya received all of them; they had to keep their friends at least partially in the dark, for it was much too entertaining. They all laughed listening to, and occasionally watching when Nino had managed to record video, Adrien practicing pickup lines, titles, and compliments on his _cat_.

Apparently, puns were one of the things that Nino informed the girls would cause the blond to have issues. Marinette knew from experience that he _loved_ to tell them, and they were all horrible. But when she started using them on him after over a month of mutual flirting he would start spluttering or turn red as he tried to smirk, and _mon dieu_ it was fantastic and damn entertaining. She even enjoyed it, not that she admitted it to anyone besides herself and barely even then when her puns would cause him to genuinely laugh. He always lit up and his smile was so goddamn wide and bright, and _holy shit_ his eyes would twinkle, the bastard (Mari gets rather aggressive when she has to admit things, especially when she has spent quite a while denying) though he often still blushed a little. _"That is adorable. Damn it all. WHY. IS. HE. SO. ATTRACTIVE._ _This is fucking ridiculous and I hate him. (liar)"_

Her favorite time was after a couple months of puns when she dropped in a comment about him being "an _Agreste_ -ive flirt" during one of his tours (she was honestly a little disappointed in herself for not coming up with it before this). He turned bright red, from his ears down his neck past the collar of his shirt, and opened and closed his mouth like a fish a few times, attempted to defend himself. He tried to say, "I only flirt with you, my lady," but it came out more like "I-uh, guh…I you with… ** _nonono_** , lady flirt you, gaaahhh," before spinning on his heel and walking (honestly, he stalked more than he walked, very much like a peeved cat) away with a very confused tour group trailing behind. Marinette then collapsed on her station in giggles.

That afternoon, when she next saw him on a tour, Adrien looked prepared for battle. There was a smug gleam in his eyes and the set of his mouth that made her immediately suspicious.

After calling Alya, and spending at _least_ 10 minutes listening to her laugh at him and another 2 of her assuring him that she was going to react pretty much the same way when Mari told her about it after work. He filed away the information that she does talk about him and seems to give daily reports for a later time. There was a particularly good piece of information and advice that he got from his lady's best friend. A certain bit of knowledge which he was excited about putting into action now and would probably use in variations sometime in the future. Alya had relayed some information about some interests and… _preferences_ of Mari's. He was externally cool, confident, and smirking for all he was worth. But, Adrien was internally both a jittery, nervous mess while also excited and giddy with the knowledge that this was going to be smooth as _fuck._ As long as he didn't screw it up. However, this was one of the areas he was very confident in and had little doubt that it was going to go well.

Adrien announced to the tour group that there was a fantastic new art piece, grabbing a surprised Mari promptly spinning her. He then led for a few steps and then promptly dropped her into a deep dip, holding for a handful of seconds and then lifting her back up to hold her against his chest in position. As he lifts her he declares that it is entitled "It Takes Two to Tango" but then whispered "…and _flirt_ ," in Mari's ear in a much deeper, more gravelly tone than she had ever heard him use prior to this. And then almost immediately continued talking, in his normal voice, about how it was a collaborative piece by Agreste and Dupain-Cheng and how it channeled the tension and passion of the dance and real life before releasing her with a very pleased – and if she admitted it to herself _attractive_ – smirk and with a confident swagger, led his group away before she could find her voice again. It took at least 15 minutes for her blush to die down, which was gleefully reported back to Adrien and Alya.

(The woman has informants everywhere, man.) ((This is why she receives awards in her journalism career.))

When Mari thought about it, she realized that it was the first time she actually took Adrien seriously regarding his interest in her. Though in hindsight it should have been obvious much sooner that he was actually serious in his affections towards her.

She also wondered if he _knew_ , and if so HOW dammit, what dancing like that and using that sexy, deep, husky (she should probably stop listing adjectives though it would be _easy_ for her to keep going) whisper - even if it was just the word 'flirt' which was slightly embarrassing - would do to her… knees.

….And, you know, other areas too….

 _"FUCK."_ This repeated in Mari's brain for hours before it was gradually joined by and alternated with "… _Revenge…_ "

Marinette eventually realized where Adrien probably got his information (she cursed herself for having lunch with Alya, Nino, and Adrien thus ensuring that the two of them met) and greeted her not-so-beloved roommate that evening with a vicious pillow attack and left Alya without defense.

As such, Nino was Marinette's favorite person at the moment and was proving to be a very valuable friend and resource. It was going to take about a week or so before she would be able to implement her new information into the Great Flirt War, but the preparation was part of the fun. While she collected the new materials she continued with her old tactics while also changing up her clothing a smidge – about an inch or three more skin exposed, by both her shirts and skirts, and Adrien turned pink (sometimes red depending on her position) whenever he looked at her. It was adorable.

Anyway, Nino somehow, for some reason, had a box of photos of Adrien from all periods of life – " _seriously, how did he get these baby pictures?_ " – including some interesting shots that were the focus of her plan. First, they framed various pictures of Adrien, including some adorable baby shots, which she put on her desk, on her office bookshelf, and her workstation in the museum. It took Adrien a little bit to notice his face was sitting on her work areas – _"how did she get those?"_ – and then he turned red when he realized _Marinette_ had decorated with pictures of _him_ , even if it was a joke it still made him happy… and flustered.

While Adrien contacted Alya about pictures of Marinette – she already had a box waiting which was a little disconcerting – and was getting one of those wallet inserts for pictures and some picture frames, Mari was working on Phase Two of Adrien's Photos…

Apparently, in his free times and on the weekends, Adrien volunteered as a model for the photography and art classes at one of the local art schools. And, _hoooo boy,_ were some of them really, really, _really_ good. Marinette might have saved a couple for her room at home. Hopefully, neither Alya nor Adrien found about that tidbit or she would be perpetually red from embarrassment. But that wasn't important – she had things to paint.

A few days after Adrien started showing people the collection of photos of her, infancy through college, which he now apparently had and carried around in his wallet – "Weird… Isn't that more of a dad thing?" – Marinette had changed up her workstation to demonstrate the process of restoring a painting covering some of the issues that can affect a painting – dirt, loss of paint, damage from water and fire, and tears. Certain areas of the canvas were damaged in different ways but the subject of the painting was easily distinguishable.

It was Adrien Agreste. Shirtless.

And he was posed in such a way that _all_ of his muscles were _oh so very_ nicely defined. It was even possible to see a nice portion of his V line with his pants being slung lower than normal.

Gabriel gave a slight snort when he saw it – though if anyone had actually dared ask he would deny it. However, anyone who might have heard would have honestly considered themselves to be delusional to believe that _Gabriel Agreste_ had snorted.

Marinette was working on the area of the painting that had been torn, with the original modeling photo propped up next to the easel, when Adrien came by with his tour group. He was showing off one of his favorite pictures of Mari and was starting to say "And now we will meet the beautiful woman herself…" when a couple people gasped and then started giggling. Adrien turned around to see what caused that reaction.

And then turned bright red as his jaw dropped.

Because there was his lady perched in front of a painting of him, shirtless and most definitely flexing.

Marinette turned and saw Adrien and the tour group, allowing herself a small smirk she returned to the painting but started explaining the work she was doing.

After at least 5 minutes Adrien was finally able to move again. He was still working on the ability to think as the mental reboot failed a couple times. When he finally became mostly cognizant again he led his group away, still slightly dazed and answering questions on autopilot.

Luckily for Adrien, he was able to take a few hours and come up with a plan and get what he needed before his next tour, that is, before he next saw the woman he was most definitely falling in love with.

When his tour came around to Marinette he immediately approached her and, before she could react, he said, "For your collection," and then draped an antique locket around her neck. A locket, which when opened had two pictures of him (she may have snorted a little bit because _"ego much?"_ ). The picture on the left showed him practically glowing, " _Ugh this man is unfairly attractive_ ," with a huge smile and the one on the right there was a look that was situated very heavily in _smolder_ territory.

When she closed it, however, all she could do was stare at it in surprise with a new feeling beginning to flutter in her chest and her stomach. For on the back was a clearly recent engraving.

 _"Pour mon nord étoile-_

 _"For my North Star-_

 _Je t'aime, toujours._

 _I love you, always._

 _~A"_

 _~A"_

Mari vaguely heard Adrien referring to her as "The North Star" and saying something about how she "helps me find my way back home and back to myself…" but continued to stare at the engraving with a smile slowly appearing on her face without her realizing it. When Adrien turned to leave, she finally raised her head and met his gaze with her eyes sparkling with emotions she could not yet define, as well as a couple tears. He gave her smile full of affection and love and _hope_ before he left.

That was a look that Marinette had never thought she would see directed at her, let alone the words that she could feel against her skin, blazing the way to her heart. The very heart which she thought might burst.

When she returned home she ignored the other paintings she had done of Adrien from his modeling and started a new piece with a slightly different focus in its subject. She was lucky that it was a smaller canvas than she had been using meaning that she got quite a bit of it done before Alya dragged Mari to her bed and made her get some sleep. She could paint it instead of demonstrating restoration in the morning…

When Adrien's tour came around at about midmorning, the first thing he noticed was she was still gorgeous even though it looked like she was exhausted. Then that she was wearing the locket, which made him smile. That smile grew, even more, when he saw the way she kept touching it every so often.

Then he saw the painting.

It wasn't complete yet but it was clearly a couple dancing. As he drew closer he was able to tell that it was the two of them, holding each other closely. There was a difference in the way that the couple held each other than when he grabbed her for the tango – there was gentleness, softness in the way they touched and looked at each other.

That was when he saw the _love_ that was dominant on both faces. The painting was practically glowing with emotions – tenderness, love, affection, and happiness.

Adrien cannot recall ever being this happy before because, " _Oh. My. God. The woman I am in love with actually loves me back!_ " He couldn't remember when he stopped talking but he does remember walking straight to Marinette, his love, gently taking the brush from her hand and putting it to the side, cradling her beautiful face in his hands, looking at her with all of the love he had and filling himself with all that she was giving to him. He was just leaning in and -

Just as they were _FINALLY_ going to kiss a throat cleared…

"That can wait until after you finish your tour, son."

* * *

 _BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHHAH_

 _I'M DEAD. That was the other reason this took forever - sometimes I was laughing too hard to actually write anything... Also, I have ideas for a chapter 3 but will gladly take suggestions :)_

 _also, my headcanon is that Nino and Adrien were having dinner at Gabriel's and as Nino was leaving Gabriel just hands him a box full of pictures of Adrien, minus the modeling shots, and says something along the lines of "I'm sure you can find a use for these" and then just walks away. Nino gets the modeling shots by convincing the teachers at the school that he needs them for Adrien's 'portfolio' or something._

 _Finally, forgive me the french - I do not speak it and used the internet to write that inscription. If there are errors please tell me and I will fix it!_

 _Update 8/3/2016: SO I edited to try and give an actual timeline. So the first chapter is essentially five months - Mari flirts back (publicly) the first time after five months. She and Nino get introduced (by Alya, who had been working on the blog with Nino for quite a while at that point) around month 6. 2 weeks after that she uses the first pun. Around nine months into the Flirt War is when the Agreste-ive flirt and the dancing retaliation happen._ _So this chapter ends at about 9 1/2 months... roughly._


	4. III - Repartee

_Awkward Dorks - Alya fixes things. Also a kitten._

 _Thanks to Psychic_Possession and Sheebi for listening to me and helping with this chapter, especially psychicpossession with a lot (most) of the puns - that was a huge help. They are both on AO3 and you should totally go read their fics!_

* * *

Alya was nearing the point of screaming and pulling her hair out, she was just so done.

The two doofs that half of Paris was shipping had essentially declared their undying love for each other after an intense, nearly 10 months long flirt war.

But they had not _done_ anything.

OH – they still flirted but things had gotten a little awkward and Alya could not understand why. She and Nino had multiple strategy sessions and tried to talk to their friends but they weren't making any progress. And it had been nearly _5_ _goddamn weeks_.

It definitely wasn't that their feelings had changed because Marinette constantly talked about Adrien who in turn almost exclusively talked about Mari. Alya and Nino received gushing reports from both of the Art Dorks as their compatriots in the Great Flirt War

No. At this point, Alya believed that they were both a little scared. Because this was a very _intense_ relationship and they still didn't know a ton about each other – _really those two just need to Talk to each other and not just by flirting; god damn is it really that hard?_ – and it is hard to start a relationship on what they had. They would spend time together outside of work and would have normal, adult human conversations, but still parts of their knowledge of each other did not come first hand but instead from Nino and Alya. There were a lot of things that they hadn't discussed and it probably was making them nervous about how much there was still to learn about each other.

Plus, they are socially awkward _nerds_ who flirted for months through ART for fuck's sake. Of course, they don't know what to do. They didn't even use spoken words to tell the other that they loved them. This was hopeless, _they_ were hopeless.

That was when Alya made a decision, standing alone in their apartment she announced to the world, "That is IT! I am done with allya shit! … DAMN IT ADRIEN. YOUR FUCKING PUNS ARE CONTAGIOUS."

In the museum, at that very moment, Adrien suddenly felt very scared as a wave of concern for his continued existence washed over him though he had no idea _why_.

Giving her a couple days to prepare and plot, Alya texted Nino telling him that he and Adrien were coming for dinner on Thursday. Adrien received a similar text though it was more along the lines of "Get your ass to my apartment by 7 on Thursday. And Do Not tell Mari," than the much nicer order text that Nino received.

Alya reasoned that this way the dweebs would have a buffer with their best friends present while being in a private environment without [too much] pressure. It wasn't like the four of them had not hung out together before, in fact, over the last few months, it was a semi-regular occurrence.

Mari was alerted that they were having guests over that particular evening, to which she replied with a flurry of questions regarding the menu because, _of course,_ she was going to cook dinner. She didn't question who was coming over for she was far more excited about the prospect of cooking for other people.

There was also an implication that this way nothing would be set on fire and that they were not ordering in and then pretending to have cooked the food. Alya acquiesced, especially since Mari's food tended to be better than anything they would have potentially ordered.

Adrien was wandering through Paris aimlessly later that night. He would go on walks to think and get out of his apartment. They were happening nearly every night at this point because he was constantly trying to figure out what to do about his relationship with Mari. Nino and Alya were apparently getting sick of his constant mooning without progress. HE was getting tired of not knowing what to do or how to handle moving forward with a relationship with the most wonderful woman he had ever met…

His love, his beautiful princess loved him and they had nearly kissed. _Screw you, dad. I mean, COME ON! I was sooo close…_ But now he didn't know what to do. He didn't think she would like it if he kept giving her things to show how much he loved her, though he wanted to spoil her and treat her right and... He just wanted to talk to her, to hold her, to be with her as much as he could. Yet that wish, that place beside her, seemed to be across this giant chasm and he had no way of getting from just flirting and semi-casual conversations to a real relationship.

He let his feet take the lead while his thoughts focused solely on Mari when sharp mewls cut through his reflection. As he neared the opening of an alley they got louder. Curious – and hopeful that this wouldn't be a traumatic or scarring experience – he looked into the alley and saw… nothing? He looked around the alley but could not find the source of the noises he had heard.

Well, until a seemingly impatient _me-OW_ caused him to look down at his feet and into the eyes of a young red and black tortoiseshell cat. The bright blue eyes that stared imploringly at him reminded him of… _OH. Ooohhh this was going to be great._

With a giant, exceedingly happy smile, which was interlaced with just a smidge of mischief, Adrien scooped up the kitten and began walking again, but this time with a direction and a plan in mind.

Thursday night rolled around and Marinette was working on supper when there was a knock at the door. Leaving the food to simmer and bubble for a minute she ran to answer, flinging the door open in her rush she was greeted with –

A kitten? Which had the cutest pink bow around its neck…

When she uncrossed her eyes as the kitten was practically pushed into her face, Mari was able to focus on Adrien who was holding the kitten and Nino standing behind him wearing a bemused expression and holding a bag. Alya who had followed her made cooing noises at the kitten while smirking at Nino.

As they waved the guys inside Mari had the thought _I really should have seen this coming_ , Adrien explained how he ran across the bundle of fur on a walk and took her to a vet who gave the kitten a clean bill of health and had cleaned her up.

After checking on the food, Marinette turned and stared at Adrien, who had followed her to the kitchen. Under her scrutiny, he started to blush and couldn't make eye contact as he told his story. He then stepped towards her and gently placed the red and black bundle in her arms, "She reminded me of you, uhh, in a number of ways… and, um, I thought you two would fit well together. But I know you haven't had a pet before and I didn't want to give her to you while you were completely unprepared and so I bought a bunch of supplies and got information and _Ireallyhopeyoulikeherandwillacceptallofthis_ ," as he spoke his words sped up coming faster until it was one very long word as he tried to get all of it out without embarrassing himself too much.

An amused Marinette looked from the kitten in her arms to the much larger one standing in front of her who was practically quivering with anticipation before she beamed at him. "Yes, Adrien. And I think I am going to name her… Tikki! Thank you so much – this was very sweet and thoughtful."

As she smiled at Adrien the newly named kitten meowed sweetly. The blond was practically glowing as he declared, "You are the cat's meow, Marinette!" getting a glare and a huff in response.

The puns kept coming after that and nothing the other three did seemed to deter Adrien – groans, glares, threats of bodily harm. There were so many cat puns and Adrien almost exclusively referred to Mari as "Purrincess," There were numerous baking and dessert puns because her parents were bakers and as such it was a requirement – at least according to Adrien. As they ate the pasta that Mari had made he stated, "I hope I am not making a pesto myself…"

He pouted when they all told him he most certainly was.

Even with all of the less-than-punderful jokes made by one specific person the four had a fantastic time. Adrien and Mari actually talked, with proud parents Alya and Nino looking on and joining in with stories to keep it going and for laughs. They made plans to get together to watch movies and play video games, Marinette declaring that she would completely annihilate everyone with Alya confirming it, much to the concern of the guys because _Alya_ supported her announcement meaning they were actually going to die.

Adrien kept up the puns until they were sitting around and playing with Tikki and Mari finally reached her limit, deciding that, at least for tonight, she was going to win whatever **this** had become. She got up grabbing Adrien and dragged him to the door. At which point, Mari promptly forced him out of the apartment, and then closed the door in his surprised face. There was a small pause before they heard "But Mari I a-door you!"

It is unclear who of the group was most surprised when she reopened the door. Most likely Adrien as she gave him a small kiss on the lips before she slammed the door shut and very forcibly locked it.

That was when she said loud enough that he would hear her through the door –

"I knead you to know something I've been wanton to say for a while…

…

I will cat-ch you at work tomorrow, hot stuff."

* * *

 _I'm honestly not sure where this story is going but I definitely enjoy writing it so I will do my best to continue if people are interested. Feedback and suggestions are very much welcome! (Please talk to me and give me writing suggestions )_

 _Edit June 6: I SWEAR TO WHATEVER DEITY OR BEING YOU WANT I AM WORKING ON THE NEXT CHAPTER... It is just taking longer than expected but once it lets itself be written I will have an update for you all..._

 _Update 8/3/2016: So this puts us at 11 months after the first meeting and flirt ;) I am hoping that the changes I have made make the timeline/story a little more clear but let me know if there is more I should change..._


	5. IV - Flora

_I have literally no idea what the fuck I am doing. Or where this story is going. Or how kissing works, but I did my best with no personal experience. I also apologize for such a delay in writing this chapter. I am not gonna make excuses really. It was just being a pain in the ass. BUT I FINISHED SO HERE HAVE THIS FLUFFY TRASH._

 _Huge thank you to KitKat (Psychic_Possession on ao3) for all of the help in planning and editing._

* * *

Adrien and Nino were over at the girl's apartment for lunch on a Monday when the museum was closed and Adrien was most definitely _not_ pouting, thank you very much. Alya had warned him how much Marinette loved the kitten which had made him very happy knowing that she and Tikki had bonded and it was all going well.

What he was not prepared for was being completely ignored by the girl he loved. He had not thought that _this_ would be the result of finding Tikki and giving her to his girlfriend (?). _Hmm, we probably should actually have a talk about us soon._ They had been over for a couple hours and Mari had barely even looked at him.

In fact, she was so busy petting and playing with Tikki that she had hardly even eaten any of the food that was set out.

But the main issue here was that his lady, his love, had said hello when he arrived and that was the most attention he had received since he got there. And _nooooo_ he wasn't exaggerating, of course not, that is exactly how this all went down.

He was not pouting. He was not jealous of a gift that _he_ gave her. Definitely not. No, sir. Nope, nope, nope. Not at all.

 _Shut up, Nino._

 _…You too, Alya._

Adrien was starting to seriously consider forcibly moving the kitten and putting himself in her place when his eyes caught on something in the apartment and an idea came to him. Considering it, making sure it was feasible, a slow smile spread across his face. This was pretty big and possibly (definitely) needlessly complicated. However, that was okay, he was just going to need time to prepare. He had research to do, calls to make, and plans to develop.

Still smiling to himself and starting to mutter ideas under his breath, he immediately jumped up and started gathering his things, effectively startling the others. Alya and Nino had assumed he was going to mope for _at least_ another hour or two, except now he suddenly seemed excited to do something that wasn't competing with a kitten for affection. Mari had even glanced up because of the noise and his frantic movements around the apartment. As he put on his jacket, Adrien determinedly moved towards Marinette with a glint in his eye that she hadn't seen before.

He shocked them, Marinette especially, even more so when he grabbed his princess and gave her a kiss. This was not a kiss like the last one, a simple peck. No. _This_ was a Kiss. It was a deep, passionate embrace, the kind that will stay in a person's head for hours, days even.

Though to be fair, that was the point, to a certain degree. He wanted to make sure that his lady was thinking of him instead of her cat for the rest of the day.

And Adrien just really fucking wanted to kiss her.

This was a kiss he took his time with, too. This was a moment between the two of them and it was going to last – there was no need to rush it, even if he had just been rushing around. This was about the act of kissing to show his love. Thus, he did not limit himself to a number within this embrace, this moment.

He cradled her head in his hands, enjoying the feeling of her hair between his fingers. His thumbs softly stroked her cheeks as they kissed, just absentmindedly enjoying touching her as much as possible. Her hands had quickly come up and latched themselves to the collar of his jacket. One started progressing up into his hair as he deepened the kiss a bit more.

He could write poems about kissing Marinette, volumes upon volumes of them.

(He probably will, after he completes _this_ plan)

The feel of her lips – soft, plush, perfect – to the way she responded and moved with him. The sensation and fireworks that resulted from even a simple brush of lips. The small gasps she makes as he tilts, moves, teases. The way she melted when he grabbed her lower lip between his teeth.

He pressed one more kiss to her lips… and then a handful of more small caresses and pecks, because he did not want to ever stop being with her like this, before finally forcing himself to pull back from her, even if just a small amount.

He rested his forehead against hers and slowly opened his eyes to take in the slightly dazed expression on Marinette's face, her eyes only just starting to flutter open again, before he finally pulled away, smirking because _he_ did that to her. Glancing over at his other friends, his expression morphed into a full-on shit-eating grin. Then he promptly walked out of the apartment with a small wave to start putting his new plan into motion.

 **…**

 **…**

"What. The. _Fuck_."

None of the ones left in the apartment are sure who spoke, or if they all did, but it was definitely a shared sentiment. Tikki meowed in agreement from Nino's lap, where she had moved fairly quickly when the kissing started. Something no one had even noticed until that moment because of how much Adrien had taken all of them by surprise.

Marinette was still processing the Kiss. (Alya was mentally drafting a post about it.)

Nino just wanted to know what the ever-loving _fuck_ had prompted all of… THAT.

When he voiced as much no one could come up with anything, possibly in part due to Mari's higher thought functions only just coming online again. Alya eventually suggested that he had come up with something for the Great Flirt War. The others nodded – and mewed – in agreement though they couldn't come up with any ideas on what it could have been.

Or what could have even possibly given him an idea.

Eventually, they all put it in the back of their minds and chatted while feeding and playing with Tikki.

That was until Mari got a text from Adrien a few hours later asking her to come into work a little earlier than she normally would on a Tuesday, which prompted more confusion and speculation. Texts and questions from Alya to the man in question resulted in gifs and emojis that told her (them) nothing. Nino wasn't doing any better on his end.

Marinette hadn't even tried as her brain was replaying the… um, event… from earlier on a continuous loop leaving her completely oblivious to the world around her. Alya stated that she was a little surprised that she hadn't passed out from the amount of blood rushing to her head to create that deep of a blush. Nino's response was that he was surprised her lip wasn't bleeding yet with the way she was biting it.

By the time Adrien had finished setting up Mari's office and workstation the entire museum smelled like flowers. In his defense, it _is_ a relatively small one, but it was still quite strong. He had moved her workstation so that she would see her desk first. Both spaces completely covered with heaps of flowers. He may have emptied a few flower shops of some very specific flowers…

Getting all of the flowers he needed had been the easy part. What had been hard, however, was writing the note that went along with them. He wanted it to be perfect because this was so big, so important on multiple points. He was _finally_ asking a very important question and, give or take a week, it had been a year since they first met, a year since this all started. So it was a challenge to not only make the card look beautiful (neat, legible) but also to find the words to explain all of it and the reasons for the flowers he chose. There were multiple types because Marinette was a wonderfully complicated woman and he had a lot of things to tell her. He knew some were fairly obvious but there was so much meaning behind everything.

Eventually, he was able to find the words and created an elegant card that he nestled in a bouquet that had one of each flower he used that was centered on his lady's desk.

" _Mon belle amor,_ My Marinette –

If I could I would buy you every flower in the world, even if it meant I was in trouble with you as a result. In the meantime, all of the flowers here remind me of you and have a special meaning.

The bluebells are for your blue-tiful eyes, in which I so often lose myself. They also stand for how grateful I am that you are in my life, for how I will love you constantly and eternally.

The daffodils are because they are your favorite. You are my daffodil because you fill my life with so much happiness.

The arbutus flowers are to remind you that I only love you. For always and forever.

The delphiniums symbolize your big heart, your lightness and levity. They are also for my most ardent attachment to you.

The forget-me-nots are a plea to always remember me, and to keep hold of the moments in our relationship. But also as a semblance of our timeless connection, of our true and undying love.

The tulips signify a lot, my beloved. The red are for true love, which I know we share, and I plan on telling you this as much as I can. The yellow are because you are my sunshine – you have given me so much light and life. The purple is for royalty because, _ma princesse_ , you rule my heart. The tulips are also because I need more of your two-lips on mine~

The camellias convey so much about what I think of you but in short perfection, admiration, and longing. You are purrfect to me and I admire you so much, as a person and as the one who stole my heart without even trying. There is a lot of longing for you, your attention, your touch, your love.

I want to say so many more things about how much you mean to me and how you have changed my life in just a year. There are so many things I don't yet know about you, about us, but I cannot wait to learn more every day. I am sure you know, and that I have said it so many times in this note already but, Marinette Dupain-Cheng, I love you, more than you know, more than I even truly know, and I hope you will be my girlfriend. Though it is not a term that can fully describe our relationship, but then again we did not follow the trajectory of a normal relationship by any means…

With love,

Adrien"

He just had a couple more things to prepare and then all that was left was to wait for Mari to come into work and see everything he had set up.

 _Fuck, I hope she likes all of this._

The museum had been open for about an hour by the time Marinette began to approach the building and there was an audience of workers and visitors who were trying their hardest, and generally not succeeding, to be inconspicuous. Quite possibly because Gabriel alerted a certain blog after he left Adrien an hour or so earlier.

…

Adrien had been assembling a path of flower petals from the entry way to Marinette's desk when his father found him on his hands and knees grabbing fistfuls of petals from the bucket next to him.

"I hope you plan on cleaning this up, son. It could be a potential safety hazard if left too long. Plus, crushed flowers are not nearly as attractive as fresh ones."

"Of course, I will. But please can it wait until after Marinette has seen everything? It looks so nice right now and still will when she gets here."

With a nod, Gabriel spun on his heel as he pulled out his phone while replying, "Yes, but _Mon Dieu_ , Adrien, this is so cheesy you might have put France into a national cheese shortage."

…

As Marinette walked up the few steps to the main doors of the museum, the smell of flowers wrapped itself around her, getting progressively stronger as she moved forwards. Adrien appeared from behind the door, as if he had been purposefully waiting, a hand behind his back.

"Flower you today?" He smiled at the confused look and quiet " _What?_ " she gave him as he moved to place a flower into her hair which he had hidden behind him. Mari only grew more confused as he bowed to her and waved her through the doors.

When she saw the trail of flower petals she glanced over her shoulder to a smug Adrien who was grinning like a Cheshire cat. He placed a hand on the small of her back to nudge her forward along the path. All of Mari's questioning looks were met with a smile and an indication to keep going.

The scent of flowers permeated the building but as the two, along with their audience, traveled farther in it grew in concentration until they entered her office and she was greeted with flowers everywhere. Her desk was completely covered in color, and the bookshelves were strewn with bunches of the flowers as well. A vase with a bouquet was the centerpiece of her desk, an envelope carefully nestled in the middle.

Then gentle, loving ( _and…hopeful?_ ) look Adrien gave her as he indicated the note was nearly enough to make her melt, and was more than enough to make her heartbeat speed up yet another notch, as it had gotten progressively faster as she had been led to this point. As she read the all of the wonderful, precious words that Adrien had written, tears welled up in her eyes and a deliriously happy smile stretched across her face, one that she believed might very well be permanent.

As soon as she finished reading it a second time, she spun around and launched herself at the nervous man behind her, causing him to stumble back into the door. Grabbing his face she pressed pecks across his cheeks, forehead, and nose interspersing them with the words "You are such a sap. I love you too. Yes, I will be your girlfriend, _mon cœur._ " She finally landed on his lips and they lost themselves in the moment and their mutual giddiness. This kiss was a bit sloppier than the one from the day before, too many giggles and smiles and the exuberance of the participants at that moment made it more difficult. After a minute they were able to settle into an actual embrace. It was tender and slow but still saturated with their contentment with each other.

They jumped apart when they heard a cough from outside the office. Turning towards the sound they find Mr. Agreste holding out a broom towards Adrien with an arched eyebrow and a possible twinkle in his eye. After the men left, Adrien somewhat sheepishly, to make sure the flower petals were cleaned up Marinette flipped over the card to find an additional note.

"Whenever you are ready I can make sure my bedroom gets the same treatment, _mon cher_."

* * *

 _A couple notes:_

 _\- The idea was that Marinette doesn't come into work until after the museum opens (around 9:30 or 10) so she tends to come in at like 11? But Adrien wanted her to see everything before her work hours started and so he could then help her with all of them. (there are hella flowers)_

 _\- Adrien, being a huge dweeb, totally had research and notes on flower meanings done already which made this process much easier._

 _\- Marinette gives him Ambrosia flowers soon after this as they signify that "your love is reciprocated" (with the warning to be careful of them, especially around Plagg, as the pollen is poisonous)_

 _(There were hyperlinks for all of the flowers and one of the gifs Adrien sent - if you are interested go check the story on AO3 or google them yourself ;)_ _)_

 _Hopefully you liked this – let me know what you thought or if you have any suggestions either here or on tumblr (thepeachgreentea) And hopefully, the next chapter won't be as long in coming._

 _Update 8/4/2016: Now with an extra pun and even more sap. BUT YES I totally made it so Adrien asked Mari to be his girlfriend a year after they first met and this whole thing started (like within a week, not exact unless you really want it to be) because I can and he would with Adrien being sappier than a maple tree._


	6. An Aside – Partie deux

_**GABE**_

 _wherein Gabe is (somewhat) shippy and a true Dad behind his professionalism_

 _also thanks to KitKat (ao3: Psychic_Possession) again for listening to me complain and helping edit and everything else you do! and to bestangelbaby on for ideas for upcoming chapters and brainstorming and all that jazz. you both are great and thank you sooo much_

* * *

Gabriel Agreste was admittedly quite fond of Marinette. He did hire her after all – and for multiple reasons. He just had not expected one of those reasons to become reality as quickly as it did. But then again, he fell just as hard and quickly for his own wife, so maybe it should not have been as much of a surprise. Behind his serious façade, Gabriel was quite pleased with the development of the relationship between his son and Marinette – approaching being giddy which was a bit hard to explain when it leaked out from behind his public mask.

This entire romance gave him so many opportunities to fulfill that hallowed father's prerogative, nay, _duty_ , to embarrass one's children and he seized as many of those chances as he could. Adrien's reactions were hilarious, even if his enjoyment of them was somewhat ironic when looking back at his own courtship.

How he wished Céleste was around to see this – she would be enjoying it even more than he was and most likely directly plotting with Marinette.

So in her memory, and as a way of fulfilling his fatherly duties, he took as many chances as he could to be involved in some way. Sometimes that was pretending to be disapproving or making snarky comments. Other times it was preventing certain events, much to the chagrin of his employees and guests. Sometimes even to his own loss. However, it was for a good and very entertaining cause thus it was usually worth it. When he got involved naturally it was to the detriment of his son, but typically to Marinette's benefit in one way or another. Theoretically, he could actually _help_ his son but where was the fun (and Adrien's shame) in that?

But this is why he would occasionally bring up stories about his courtship of Céleste when he was alone with Marinette (and sometimes Nino); it was his way of subtly providing fodder for The War and a way to reminisce from time to time. Admittedly, he could be more overhanded in his actions as well. When the young men had attended a dinner at his home he gave Nino a box of photos without a word. There _might_ have been a note naming the art schools Adrien modeled for when he had the time. Marinette received quiet instructions to come to him if he could help in any way… and the semi-frequent embarrassing childhood story. Sometimes even within Adrien's earshot which was so much more amusing.

He was very gratified when she actually took him up on his offer of assistance, though he did not anticipate the sheer level of deviousness she possessed. He legitimately laughed when she told him her plan – she swore, with a delighted twinkle in her eyes, to never tell anyone that it had happened and it would be their secret.

On his end, he promised to help with materials and even offering a hand with a piece or two. He even pledged the help of the new assistant art restorer and resident artist. The young man, along with every single one of the other museum employees, knew about the young couple and had made some rather perceptive (and humorous) observations about the twosome, who he had only seen in passing up until this point. The two of them had developed a friendship of laughing over the antics of Gabriel's son and his girlfriend, as well as the blog posts regaling the plans, reactions, and general silliness of the duo. Once they were both actively interacting with the pair it was only going to be better and more enjoyable.

In addition, because he could and knowing just how many people were invested in the young pair, Gabriel sent relatively vague updates of Marinette's progress to the blog while chuckling to himself. He was so very looking forward to seeing his son's reactions to Marinette's scheming. It was going to be fantastic.

* * *

 _I figured my Gabriel headcannons for this story deserved their own aside. And it teases about some of the upcoming action which is great and outrageous and I love it so goddamn much (if you ask or guess something I may or may not hint and/or confirm)_

 _Also: I don't know if anyone will actually notice but I changed Mama Agreste's name for reasons - mostly because I liked this better sooooo_

 _Come talk to me on tumblr: .com I am more than willing to talk to anyone or answer asks and what not_


	7. V - Revelation

_HAPPY HOLIDAYS! I have returned from the land of education and exhaustion and I guess this update can count as a present for the holidays for everyone that has stuck around ;*_

 _As a heads up, in August I went back through the story and edited a little bit – tried to create more of a timeline and find inconsistencies (I could probably still improve it but it is better). Nothing really major but yeah so if you are interested you can go ahead and read through again… Also, I am open to suggestions or edits. Or plot ideas. ("plot" because this story doesn't really have any but that's okay) I am really sorry that this chapter has been so delayed – this semester was somewhat brutal schedule and work wise (plus what are motivation or inspiration?) – BUT I am now half way done with my last year of undergrad so there's that._

 _So, I want to give a huge thank you to reyxa (one of my absolute favorite fic authors) for recommending this story on tumblr and saying some wonderful things and for just being a beautiful ray of sunshine. (There was some muffled screaming when I saw this on the list. And some not so muffled screaming in my tags but its fiiiiine) ((I may still scream a little thinking about it))_

 _Also, some big thanks to KitKat, Psychic_Possession on ao3, and bestangelbaby on for talking about these chapters, inspiring events, and supporting me - even when we didn't talk for a while._

* * *

Almost three months had passed since Marinette had requested Gabriel's assistance and the three of them were almost done with the pieces for her plan. Currently, she was admiring their hard work before she went to join Adrien for dinner at his apartment. They had taken to cooking dinner for each other a couple times a week. It had been challenging Adrien to learn a few new recipes so that they did not end up with grilled cheese or eggs every time that he cooked. Marinette really treasured this time together, just the two of them with food and conversation – the kissing was an added benefit too.

Hopefully, she could finally figure out what was bothering him tonight. Adrien had been acting off for the past month or so. Mari had some suspicions that it related to Nathanaël as she had been spending quite a bit of time with him working on this very special exhibit.

Ignoring the fact that she loved Adrien completely and wholeheartedly, he really had nothing to be jealous about seeing as they bonded over him and gushing about their respective relationships. Marinette had learned very quickly that Nath was about as straight as a circle, though he would argue that as an artist he should be able to appreciate the human body, especially one as attractive as Adrien's. Also, his partners sounded like some of the most wonderful people that Marinette had yet to meet. They had tentative plans for all of them to go for brunch or drinks after they pulled off the plan.

Since Adrien's flowery event, when they got together as an official couple, things had been relatively calm. Not to say that it was all quiet – they were still their adorable, if somewhat flirty, selves – but it was nothing extravagant. Though to be fair, that was because Mari had been working with Nath and Gabriel on her own big project. This was probably the most work Marinette had put into the War since it had begun because it required so many pieces. It was worth it, however, as there was now a small gallery in the museum that she was going to show Adrien in the morning. She smothered a cackle because she was going to get him with this and it was going to be _glorious_.

…

When she walked into Adrien's apartment she found him muttering to himself as he finished the dinner preparations – which looked to be roasted rosemary chicken and what she really hoped were dauphinoise potatoes (those being her favorite). Apparently, Adrien had not heard her come in and as she carefully, stealthily moved behind him she started hearing more of what he was saying.

"Marinette…late… probably… stupid Nathanael. Harrumph… just want… see my girlfriend… too busy to spend time with me apparent- AHH! FUCK… Marinette. You really scared me – when did you get here?"

From her position wrapped around him, she spoke into his back, "I did wait until you put the knife down and maybe less than 5 minutes ago. I am sorry I was late, I had to finish up a few things at work. But it means we finished the new gallery and I cannot wait for you to see it in the morning… You seem upset about something – I heard you talking to yourself. Are you alright, _mon_ _chaton_?" Adrien wiggled around in her hold until he was facing her and able to wrap his arms around her as well.

Dropping a gentle kiss on her forehead, "I'm better now that you are here, _mon chou_. I look forward to seeing it. You hungry? I am almost done with the salad if you want to get the table ready." As he spun her towards the cabinets with the plates and glasses Marinette scowled slightly at him for skirting around her question.

He continued to hedge around the subject throughout dinner whenever she brought it up and it was annoying Marinette to pieces. Eventually, she decided to table the discussion for later and just enjoy spending time with her love. Adrien began to relax a little more when she moved away from the topic and they talked and told stories, enjoying the time together and making each other laugh.

It was all going well until the fire nation attacked Mari began to talk about the exhibit and how much help Nath was with all the work and how nice he is. She didn't notice Adrien's nearly immediate shift from happy and content to irritated and grumpy. He felt himself getting more upset but didn't say anything while she told him a story about Nathanael and a paint bucket and something about his father. Marinette finally looks over to gauge his reaction and shocked, her story stutters to a halt when she sees how upset her boyfriend looks, sees him practically attack the food left on his plate – hacking away at it with his knife and spearing bites with his fork.

"…Adrien?" the softly whispered question caused him to look up to see concern and surprise swimming in Marinette's eyes. It was only then that he realized how tightly he was gripping his utensils – to the point that his knuckles had turned white. Slowly, he released his too-tight hold on them and took a deep breath and reconnected his gaze with his girlfriend's.

"I'm sorry, Mar. I guess I have been a little stressed lately. And I have missed you – you have been so busy with the exhibit lately and we haven't been… us? Or at least haven't spent time together without discussing work. If it is okay with you why don't we have dessert and then just cuddle on the couch for a while?" She was still worried but agreed to the suggestion. They spent a content couple hours lying on the couch wrapped around each other and just enjoying being together. They shared gentle chaste kisses and silly stories in quiet tones to protect the moment, to stretch it as long as they could. Eventually, Marinette had to leave as she lived a good distance away from Adrien and it was getting late. They delayed at the door, neither really wanting to say goodbye preferring to stay together as long as they could but Marinette managed to slide herself out of his arms and out the door.

...

He was honestly really worried. Adrien knew Marinette loved him but she had just been spending so much time with – _ugh_ – Nathanael and talked about him so much that it grew into something he was legitimately concerned over and would get himself worked up about it. He wasn't exactly sure what he was specifically worried about – self-doubt was often something that came into play when he started thinking about it. Questions of why Marinette, one of the (if not The #1) most wonderful women he has ever met, was with him, what she saw in him, if he was worthy of her, all that sort of thing would run through his head and he _hated_ it. Even when he knew it was all in his head, as a result of the situation and her work relationship, it was hard to get it to stop, to put a lid on feelings of jealousy.

He was kicking himself for being this stressed over something he knew was probably nothing as he walked through the museum the next morning. Hoping to find Marinette, he had been wandering around, not really paying attention, for a good five minutes or so when he heard her laugh. Adrien perked up and turned to find her outside of the small separate gallery room. The hopeful smile that had started to unfurl on his face withered in sight of him standing there with his princess. Nathanael had a hand on her shoulder, grinning, and Mari was bent over slightly laughing while her hand rested on his extended arm. Jealousy and anger instantly started boiling in Adrien's gut at the sight and he found he could no longer stop himself from demanding to know what was going on with them.

Marinette, still laughing about Nath's prediction of Adrien's reaction to the exhibit, managed to get herself under control as she heard footsteps approaching and straightened up to greet the person she assumed to be her boyfriend. She was right but was unprepared for the look on his face. It was something that she had never seen before and she could almost feel the heat from his intensity – in his eyes, there was this barely contained anger that sparked like lightning over a roiling sea of what she could only label as jealousy. Mari really had no idea what could have caused this but took a step forward to meet him. Nathanael slowly inched away from her to create more space, to escape the dangerous, almost scarily attractive predator that was stalking towards the pair.

As he got within a few feet, Adrien snarled out, "Someone please explain to me what the hell is going on between you two because I cannot take it anymore. You spend so much time together and Marinette talks about you so often. I just really need to know what the _fuck_ is going on."

Marinette was unable to move or speak she had been so unprepared for this reaction from sweet, dorky Adrien. Nathanael hesitantly spoke up, cringing backward when Adrien settled his glare on him directly, "We are just friends, and have been working on an exhibit that required a lot of prep work. She talks about you all the time… though given the exhibit it isn't that much of a surprise," his words dropping off until barely audible to the point that Adrien missed the very last part of what the other young man said.

Something different in Adrien's eyes ( _doubt?_ ) when he turned towards her finally pulled Marinette out of the daze she was in, some spark of ire ignited a fire in her chest and she ground out a response through the hurt. "Do you really doubt me that much? Trust me so little, Adrien? I love YOU! I have spent so much time with Nath because he has been helping me do this for you, you _ass_!"

She reached behind her, slammed the door to the gallery open and managed to shove Adrien into the room before storming off because she was so upset with him for thinking anything like that. As soon as he gained his bearings and balance again, Adrien realized how much he messed up.

For all over the walls were beautiful paintings of Adrien, of Adrien and Marinette.

"Fuck. I fucked up."

"Yes, yes you did," he was only slightly startled by Nathanael and his father speaking in unison from the doorway, and then Gabriel continued, "Now figure out a way to fix it."

* * *

 _ahahahhahahaahhaha I (and 2 other people) know what is coming next but that is going to have to wait ;) (I love it a lot honestly) and, okay, so maybe there is a little (tiny) bit of plot for now…_

 _also, for context, currently going with Nath being pan and in a poly relationship with Rose and Juleka - in part because of personal headcannons and lack of desire to be more creative._

 _And like I mentioned in the notes above - thank you to those who helped with ideas and everything and to reyxa for the recommendation for this fic ((((ahhhhhhhhhh))))_

 _Thank you so much for reading and please let me know what you thought!_


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